The 85th Oscars are more than just the popular TV awards show. We have gathered some interesting facts about the Academy and what could be considered their biggest fundraiser of the year.More >>

The 85th Oscars are more than just the popular TV awards show. We've gathered some interesting facts about the Academy and the popular Academy Awards to prepare you for the film industry's biggest night of the year.More >>

(RNN) - Satirical newspaper, The Onion, has apologized for making a questionable joke about 9-year-old Best Actress nominee, Quvenzhané Wallis, on Twitter.

During the 85th Academy Awards telecast, The Onion tweeted, "Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhane Wallis is kind of a [C-word], right?"

Although the tweet was probably just a joke in bad taste that was in response to the much-deserved praise the young actress has received for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Onion was immediately criticized for the tweet.

"The Onion is so pathetically desperate," tweeted conservative pundit Michelle Malkin in response to the tweet.

"@theonion apologize for your chauvinist & unfunny joke about 9 yr old Quvenzhané Wallis. No women shld b called that especially a child!" tweeted the official Twitter account of Occupy Wall Street.

And LeVar Burton announced that he unfollowed The Onion on Twitter.

"Calling a nine year old girl a [C-word] IS NOT SATIRE!" he tweeted.

The Onion deleted the tweet about one hour after it was posted. However, it had already gone viral.

The Onion issued an apology to its readers and Wallis on Monday.

"It was crude and offensive - not to mention inconsistent with The Onion's commitment to parody and satire, however biting," The Onion CEO Steve Hannah posted on his Facebook account. "No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire."

"Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry," Hannah wrote.

In addition to thousands of angry tweet reactions to The Onion, many have called for the writer to be fired and for fans to boycott the site.

In addition to directing a dirty word towards a child, many on Twitter claimed that the joke was evidence of a culture insensitive to racist; if not intentionally racist, then because more restraint would have been used towards a white child.

"If they called Suri Cruise a [C-word], best believe that by MORNING, the entire staff of @TheOnion would be at the unemployment office," tweeted blogger Awesomely Luvvie.

"I think it's a safe bet to say there's not too many people of color at the @Onion office that wrote that awful tweet, nor parents. Or women," tweeted blogger Lalo Alcaraz.

Despite the uproar, a few people managed to get a joke out of the ordeal.

"That's the last time the onion let's me guest tweet from their account," tweeted comedian Kumail Nanjiani.

And comedian Eli Braden tweeted: "@TheOnion reveals writers responsible for controversial tweet," with a link to a picture of Steve-O from MTV's Jackass.

Wallis is the youngest actor to ever be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. It was announced shortly before the Academy Awards that she will play the lead in an upcoming remake of Annie.